By Nicholas Jason Lopez “Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post. (Aired 3/7/17) Vices By Vipers – The opening video recapped the last month, aka Randy Orton’s “master plan” to sacrifice himself into The […]

WCW Uncensored 1995 Reaction

If a tagline ever fit a World Championship Wrestling show, this was it.

Uncensored – WCW’s attempt to bend the rules and present an “extreme” Pay-Per-View with only gimmicked matches, was an experiment in the beginning.

Headlined by a Leather Strap Match between WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan and WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Vader in the midst of a hot feud between Hogan and “A Man Possessed,” Ric Flair, it was enough to salvage for the rest of the malarky.

What malarky? Put in a “Boxer Vs. Wrestler” Match, a “King Of The Road” Match and a “Martial Arts” Match.

Oh and because of recent creative changes, no blood was allowed at all.

More below.

(Aired 3/19/1995)

The Breakdown

– The opening video displayed that famous tagline over some gritty graphics with random cuts to WCW talent as they screamed, “Get the camera out of my face!” from previous shows which was meant to sound extreme, we guess? If you look at this, this almost feels like WCW’s attempt to be Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and it’s a passable attempt, but still obvious.

– They must’ve looked for every word in the English language that began with “Un” (uncut, unauthorized…) as they throw every one of them at us. The set doesn’t resemble anything extreme and looks like every other set at the time. What a lost opportunity. They cut to Commentators Tony Schiavone and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan raving about the concept. We’ll give WCW one thing – around this time with Eric Bischoff as Executive Vice President, the broadcast value (and profits) went way up. We got a lot of input from commentary on camera about the show and it had more of a sports-like feel. Plus, having Brain drop all those hilarious lines helped us out. They talked up the Strap Match which “everyone was waiting for” surely. Hogan also “went to the dark side” to get The Renegade in his corner in the main event. It was such a blatant Ultimate Warrior ripoff. They cut to a silly shot of Hogan talking 96 miles-per-hour with a silhouette of Renegade doing Warrior poses in the background on a previous show. There was lame smoke in the shot too. We were also reminded there was a Martial Arts Match for later. Wow. Everything is gimmicks. Commentator Mike Tenay (his onscreen debut in the midst of “Mean” Gene Okerlund’s absence) crowned it a “Night Of Firsts.” We did like the constant cuts to the three-man team.

– Cut to Dustin Rhodes as he ran away on the back of an 18-wheeler from his opponent, Blacktop Bully. A helicopter flew above the truck for one shot with a cop car behind it too. Guess we can see what inspired the World Wrestling Federation’s “Hollywood Backlot Brawl” a year later, which also ironically starred Rhodes. Rest assured, no other PPV has started out like this. Brain continued to drop some funny lines. There was no explanation of how this match came to be. The object of the match was to apparently get to the front of the truck and pull the horn lever. Rhodes stopped Bully with what appeared to be a log. What if the truck just turns? Does the match stop then? A bail of hay was used as a weapon. Suplex on the hay. They talk about animosity, but nothing about why they’re fighting or how this all happened. Okay, the truck made a turn. This is a sure riot. Debris fell out of the truck. “Is that Dustin’s leg?” asked Brain. Hilarious. They were then stopped as they waited for a “church bus” to pass. We now know that this was taped in advance, but they did a convincing job of making us think this was shot in real time. Because of the blood, this match had to be heavily edited and the feed “cut off” several times, regarded by Schiavone as “microwave interference.” Guess it’s a 90’s thing. We just imagine someone in the production truck heating up a Hot Pocket. Silly stuff. Both men were on the outer edge of the truck. We’ll give it to them, that’s scary. They actually managed to make it look dramatic. Bully knocked Dustin off and sounded the horn to win the match. Of course, we know that due to the blood, everyone here was shortly fired afterward. For what it was, it was unique. Pyro awkwardly went off as we cut back to Schiavone/Brain.

– Tenay was backstage with WCW World Television Champion Arn Anderson, who was scheduled to face Johnny B. Badd in a “Boxer Vs. Wrestler” match. Also with him were Meng (back turned to the camera in a brightly colored geisha-esque attire) and their manager, Colonel Rob Parker. Anderson called himself the “greatest in the world today.” Parker rambled on about his Farmhouse Stable and how Bully started a “clean sweep.” He also spoke about martial arts and Meng. They then cut to a hype video that explained the whole feud, as Rey Mysterio Jr.’s WCW music played in the background.

– The Martial Arts match between Meng and Duggan began as we realized it was Meng who had his back turned in the previous segment. Duggan looked about as patriotic as could be, a “blue-collared Champion.” The Special Guest Referee was Sonny Onoo, pre-heel manager. Duggan stopped the match from happening with various chants of “USA.” Brain continued to rag on Duggan. Meng kicked him in the face. Duggan took off his boot and used it as a weapon. Surprisingly pleasant. Duggan connected with the three-point clothesline for a pop. Meng popped back up. Meng kicked Duggan with the Savate Kick as Onoo/Parker each “stretched out” Duggan’s arms to win the match. “A wing, a win, a win for Meng,” said Brain. Yup.

– Badd cut a promo backstage about things not being about the “Boxer Vs. Wrestler” Match, but Anderson going to dream land instead. They cut to a very good hype video about Anderson as he stood outside of a van and put himself over as a ring master and being a proud Champion. Also liked the way they worked in the footage of his punches and kicks, as he mentioned them.

– The “Boxer Vs. Wrestler” Match between Anderson and Badd had round one finish as Anderson was seated in the corner. One minute rest period. We heard Parker tell Anderson to take the legs out. The strategy went for naught as Badd laid in some more rough shots. Anderson hit a cheap DDT during the rest period. Ha. Anderson came to the corner and rushed in more cheap shots and argued there were no disqualifications (it’s Uncensored!) and he had a point there. Anderson threw Badd into a stool Parker held in the corner, as it broke. Finnegan leaped on Anderson’s back for a big pop. Anderson went for more cheap shots and Badd got the KO punch with Anderson’s head covered in a bucket. Loudest reaction yet.

– A hype video for “Macho Man” Randy Savage aired. Oddly enough, it looked similar to the opening video. This led to a backstage promo from him about Avalanche’s previous attack. He had a quiet/loud dynamic to his promo, classic “Macho Man” stuff. He even threatened Tenay here. Nice stuff.

– The Savage-Avalanche match began as Savage put in the first stomps as Avalanche slid into the ring. Avalanche went over the top rope to the floor. “He went down like the Hindenburg,” said Brain. High cross body block to the floor. Why would Avalanche pin him so close to the ropes? Savage did an awkward cross body from the top that took Avalanche down from the side for a one count. Avalanche missed a splash. Some lady went over the railing and attacked Savage. The knife edge chops gave it away that it was Flair. Hogan came to the rescue. Savage won by apparent disqualification on a show with no disqualifications. Right.

– WCW World Tag Team Champions, Harlem Heat, stood with Sister Sherri as they were geared up to fight The Nasty Boys in a Falls Count Anywhere Texas Tornado Tag. Both Booker T/Stevie Ray had similar promo styles, shout everything. Guess they’re the heels here? Sherri was awesome as usual and we can’t help but love this group. Tenay snuck the mic away from her at the last second before she could finish her sentence. Ha.

– Backstage, Sting cut a promo on his match with Big Bubba Rogers. He was excited as hell. That was about it.

– The Rogers-Sting match had a backstory of the two in a heated rivalry with attention paid to Rogers’ recent name change from “The Guardian Angel.” Sting took Rogers’ hat and did a leg drop on it as the crowd went wild. Sting was more aggressive than usual and he eventually sold his knee as he landed on it. Brain continued to kill it on commentary. Sting worked in a few comebacks, but it all went back to the knee. Bubba went to the top rope and tried to jump off only to fall off. Maybe that was a botch? Sting got off the top rope and hit a cross body, then a body slam. He applied a sleeper next. Bubba used his tie to help him hit a jawbreaker. That was smart. Sting did the Stinger Splash for a two. Sting tried to body slam him again, but Bubba’s weight won out and he fell on top of him for the three count. Crickets before boos came in. He needed the win anyway since he changed his name.

– NB’s backstage promo led into the Texas Tornado. Lots of screaming and promises to put the Champs in garbage cans.

– The Falls Count Anywhere Texas Tornado Tag Match between HH and NB saw Sherri come out with the belts as she couldn’t find her boys. It was a genius set up for them to attack NB from behind in the ring. Sherri got tossed into the ring. Things carried their way over to the cordoned-off “concession stand” for a literal food fight. Now, it wasn’t comparable to the 1979 Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl, but it was a respectful homage. How could you hurt a man with cotton candy though? Spilled lemonade on the floor caused everyone to literally slip onto the floor. Mustard then got sprayed everywhere. This slowly became the most entertaining thing on the show, especially if you looked at Sherri caught in the mustard mayhem. Brian Knobbs got tossed onto the funnel cake stand (which we didn’t see any funnel cakes, hmm…) and the whole damn thing collapsed, as Booker T went down with it. Perhaps that part wasn’t planned? The bell began to ring for some reason, as we were confused since there were no rules. NB were awarded the win and then they finally cut to a previous shot of the actual finish which involved a World’s Strongest Slam onto the wooden panel from the broken stand.

– Vader cut a backstage promo and said the fear was “here and there,” and that was there was “nowhere to run and hide.” All cliche things heels usually say. He put over the 23 World Titles between him/Flair (Flair had 11 at the time, so it was pretty even) and then Flair took over the segment from here. He spoke about not being just another pretty face, but was a “man possessed.” Perhaps to paint the picture more vibrantly, Flair retained the mascara and painted red nails from the outfit earlier. You’re going to tell us that man isn’t possessed? He dashed in some realism as he complained about Hogan always getting his way and he wouldn’t stand for it anymore. It probably also helped his rant that Hogan was the one who “retired” him recently. That was just plain awesome.

– The Leather Strap Match between Vader and Hogan had a storyline headed in that Jimmy Hart was still missing, so Hogan hired Renegade as his “Ultimate Surprise.” Sigh. For what it was, Hogan was still crazy over and had chants for him loud and galore. Renegade’s music hit with such a ripoff of Ultimate Warrior’s WWF music that Jim Johnston would cry. Renegade chased Flair away, a constant of this match. Hogan nonchalantly unmasked Vader. Flair came back to the ring like it was nothing and tried to interfere again. Hogan hit him with the strap and then Renegade ran him off again. Just repeat what we saw before. “Who is this Renegade,” asked Brain. Really? Hart eventually made his way out with his shirt loosened up and torn. Vader took some chair shots to the head from Hogan as he briefly had a hold of Hart. Hogan used the strap to run Vader into the ring post. Eventually, Hogan grounded Vader with a big boot/leg drop combo and dragged him around to three of the four corners. Just then, a masked man attacked Renegade as Flair attacked Hogan from behind. Flair hit Renegade in the back next. Flair then called for Vader to hit the splash as he had one more corner left to hit. Of course, Vader missed a somersault. Flair used another wooden chair, which caused a “Hulking Up” situation. Hogan used the strap and somehow got it attached to Flair and dragged him around the four corners. Doesn’t he need to do that with Vader though since he’s the legal man? The masked man came back out and stood with the heels, as Anderson came out in the leotard, mask removed. He was revealed to be the first guy as the camera cut to Savage in the ring as the second. He was revealed to be on Hogan’s side and we apparently had a Mega Powers reunion. We’ll give it to them that everything was elaborate (albeit overbooked), but it was a decent payoff, if you can look past all the WWF storyline recycling.

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About Nicholas Jason Lopez

Just a 25 year-old Brooklynite. Nothing more, nothing less.
Currently Freelancing for The Bensonhurst Bean website in Brooklyn, he has also been published on sites such as Review Fix, College University of New York Athletic Conference, Dying Scene, Brooklyn News Service, All Media NY, BrooklynFans.com and Yahoo Voices.
He has also interned for The Home Reporter/Brooklyn Spectator based out of Brooklyn, NY.